In the next few days, we’ll be rolling out improvements to our reporting system for abusive chat. Specifically, we’re changing the ways we penalize repeat offenders by increasing the severity of the actions we take against their accounts.

In the current system, players who are regularly reported for abusive chat incur a silence penalty, which restricts them from chatting in-game and prevents them from playing Hero League for the penalty’s duration. Subsequent offenses result in increasingly longer silence penalty durations. In some cases, however, silence penalties alone aren’t enough for repeat offenders to see the error in their ways and correct their behavior.

As a result, we’re going to greatly reduce the number of silence penalties we apply to repeat offenders’ accounts. Instead, a player who returns to abusive behavior after their initial silences expire will begin incurring account suspensions. These suspensions will quickly ramp-up in duration and prevent them from playing Heroes of the Storm entirely. Players who prove they are incapable of—or unwilling to—improve their behavior after being warned, silenced, and suspended enough times will be permanently banned from the game.

We’re also aware that some players are concerned that they may be penalized after being falsely reported for abusive chat or abusive voice. This is not the case. Here’s how we handle false reports in these instances:

Abusive chat or spam reports are ignored if they are issued against a player who hasn’t participated in in-game chat or public chat channels.

Abusive voice reports are ignored if they are issued against a player who hasn’t participated in voice chat.

Abusive chat and abusive voice reports issued by players on an enemy team are also ignored.

Furthermore, we have already begun implementing machine learning technology that further enhances our ability to validate and empower accurate player reports. This has proven very successful so far, and we plan to continue leveling-up and expanding our report validation processes going forward

As always, we’d like to thank those of you who continue to use the appropriate in-game reporting options to bring negative behavior to our attention. Your reports are important in helping us take action against offending players and those actions are about to have even more impact than they did before.

Echoes of Alterac - First Phase
First part of the Echoes of Alterac event has just launched in the US, and will arrive in the EU between 0200 and 0400 tonight. Let's take a look at what we're getting this week:

Yrel, Light of Hope

A new warrior-class hero who, depending on who you ask, is inspired by protection/retribution/holy paladins from World of Warcraft. Check out our hero page for a full list of talents and abilities.

Portraits & Sprays

Carbot portraits!

Carbot sprays!

Yrel and Yrel Master portraits

Alterac Valley-inspired portraits

New Quest - Battle For Alterac Pass

While Alterac Pass itself does not launch until next week, this event's dedicated quest line is going active today! As with the Nexomania event, you pick one of two sides. Choose to bring honor and glory to the Alliance, or choose to show off the might of the Horde! Part of the quest line requires you to team up with others, which leads us to the....

If you're interested, you can use our team-up thread on the forum to find others looking to take advantage of this event. Time to level those heroes!

Second part of the event, including the Alterac Pass battleground, launches with next week's maintenance in each region.

Heroes of the Storm Patch Notes – June 12, 2018

Originally Posted by Blizzard
(Blue Tracker)

In our latest patch, Heroes are called to join forces with the Horde and Alliance in preparation for the battle to control the upcoming Alterac Pass Battleground. This patch also brings Yrel, a new Warrior Hero, into the Nexus, as well as the Echoes of Alterac event, a 50% XP bonus, and much more!

NOTE: Orange text indicates a difference between the PTR and Live patch notes.

An age-old rivalry has flared up as the Horde and Alliance battle for dominance over a strategic pass through the Alterac Mountains. Generals from each faction rally Heroes to their banners in an effort to gain the upper-hand in the struggle to control Alterac Pass. You must decide whether to side with Vanndar Stormpike and the Alliance or Drek’thar and the Horde. Choose wisely! Your decision is permanent, and these battle-hardened Generals will not tolerate traitors among their ranks.

Starting the week of June 12, until July 9, those who successfully complete quests for their General of choice will be handsomely rewarded with in-game loot, including a Warcraft Reinforcements Chest, which guarantees a Warcraft Hero of epic or higher rarity.

Alliance Quest Chain and Rewards

Reconnaissance: Play 4 games as a Warcraft Hero.

Reward: Warcraft Reinforcements Loot Chest.

Raiding Camp: Achieve 50 Takedowns in winning games.

Reward: Alliance Portrait.

Carry the Banner: Play 6 games with a friend.

Reward: Alliance Banner.

For the Alliance: Win 8 games as a Warcraft Hero.

Rewards: Swift Ram Mount.

Horde Quest Chain and Rewards

Scout: Play 4 games as a Warcraft Hero.

Reward: Warcraft Reinforcements Loot Chest.

Strike Back: Achieve 50 Takedowns in winning games.

Reward: Horde Portrait.

Gaining Drek’thar’s Favor: Play 6 games with a friend.

Reward: Horde Banner.

For the Horde: Win 8 games as a Warcraft Hero.

Rewards: Raging Wolf Mount.

50% XP Bonus

Now through July 9, players can earn 50% more XP by playing Heroes of the Storm with friends!

Complete Heroes matches in Versus A.I., Quick Match, Unranked Draft, Heroes Brawl, or Team League while partied with a friend to receive a 50% XP bonus.

Please Note: Alterac Pass will become available for play in two stages during the coming weeks:

Non-Ranked Modes: During the week of June 19, Alterac Pass will enter Quick Match, Unranked, and Versus A.I. matchmaking queues, as well as Custom Games.

Ranked Play: During the week of July 10, Alterac Pass will enter the Ranked Battleground Rotation.

Alterac Pass is a 3-lane Battleground where Heroes must free imprisoned allied troops, call in their cavalry, and take down the opposing General to claim the Pass for their faction. In addition to enemy forces, the Alterac Mountains are home to many treacherous hazards! Heroes must remain vigilant, as a misstep into a mud pit can prove fatal. Teams would also be wise to recruit the Armored Gnolls and Ice Giants who inhabit the Pass before the enemy faction can harness these deadly creatures for their own gain.

Cores Replaced by Generals

Each team’s Core has been replaced by a General who will aid them in fending off attackers.

Vanndar Stormpike leads the Alliance (left team) in driving back the Horde forces at Alterac Pass.

Drek'Thar has rallied the Horde (right team) to aid in defending the Pass against Alliance invaders.

Each General receives bonus Armor and damage based on the number of allied Keeps remaining. Destroy enemy Keeps to weaken their General.

When attacking a General directly, be prepared to finish the job! Vanndar and Drek’thar will regenerate Health once they are out of combat.

In addition to their Basic Attacks, they can also use two Abilities:

Whirlwind: Deals damage in an area around the General.

Charge: The General dashes to the target enemy, dealing damage.

Capture Prison Camps to Call in the Cavalry!

Three minutes after a match begins, a Prison Camp will spawn for each team. Invade enemy territory, take out the Guards, and free the allied prisoners to call in a Cavalry Charge!

Channel an opposing Prison Camp to begin a breakout, and then free the prisoner by preventing the enemy team from regaining control of the Camp for 30 seconds.

Watch out for enemy Heroes and Guards! They will attempt to stop any attackers and Channel on their Prison Camp to retake control.

Each subsequent breakout will require the capturing team to maintain control for an additional 10 seconds, up to a maximum of 50 seconds.

Once a team frees the prisoners at an enemy camp, allied Cavalry will charge down all three lanes, attacking any enemies and Structures in their paths.

For example: If all Cavalry from the most recent event are defeated at the 10-minute mark, the next set of Prison Camps will spawn at random between 90 and 130 seconds later.

Mercenaries

Armored Gnolls – Siege Camp

Watch out for the Gnolls who inhabit the Pass! They’re formidable creatures who wield a cleaving attack that can shred a Hero’s Armor in no time.

Ice Giants – Boss Camp

The Ice Giants at the northern and southernmost points of the Pass tend to mind their own business, but once provoked, they’ve been known to hurl deadly balls of ice and even stomp the ground in an effort to Slow or Stun their foes.

Mud Pits

Combatants who don’t mind where they step can fall victim to one of several mud pits that have sprung up within Alterac Pass.

Any Hero who enters a mud pit will find their Movement Speed reduced by 16% per second, to a maximum of 60%, for as long as they remain there.

Upon finding solid ground, the Hero will regain Movement Speed at 50% per second.

New Hero: Yrel

After traveling to an Alternate Draenor, the forces of Azeroth saved the acolyte Yrel from the Iron Horde. With their aid, she rose to the rank of Exarch and fought back the demonic invasion of her world. Now, she finds herself where time, space, and dimensions converge: the Nexus.

Trait

Divine Purpose (D)

Activate to instantly charge Yrel's next Basic Ability at no mana cost.

Unleash holy energy around Yrel, dealing 38 damage to nearby enemies and healing her for 96.

Charging up this Ability increases its damage up to 125 140, and Healing up to 320.

Righteous Hammer (W)

Swing Yrel's hammer, dealing 38 damage to enemies in front of her and knocking them away.

Charging up this Ability increases its knockback distance, and damage up to 125. Enemies hit at maximum charge are Stunned for 0.75 seconds.

Avenging Wrath (E)

Leap to a location, dealing 150 damage to enemies in an area and Slowing them by 50% for 1 second.

Charging up this Ability increases its range.

Heroic Abilities

Ardent Defender (R)

Surround Yrel in a barrier for 3 seconds, absorbing all damage taken and Healing her for 50% of the damage received.

Sacred Ground (R)

Yrel sanctifies the ground around her, gaining 40 Armor until she leaves the area.

ArtHero Select Screen

Starting today, troops will now make their Hero selections among the snowy, picturesque peaks of Alterac.

Heroes, Abilities, and Talents

The following Heroes have received updated visual effects for their Abilities:

Auriel

Muradin

DesignVehicles

Vehicle Exit hotkey has been moved to the Trait key (default: “D”), and Vehicle Trait hotkeys have been moved to the Heroic key (default: “R”). This includes:

Dragon Knight

Garden Terror

Triglav Protector

Blaze's Bunker Drop

Heroes, Abilities, and Talents

Ragnaros: Empower Sulfuras will now miss when Ragnaros is Blinded, and the Ability’s cooldown will be consumed.

Abathur: Allied and enemy Symbiote hosts will now display a crown icon above their portraits on the Minimap.

BattlegroundsWarhead Junction

Nuke (F)

Bonus damage has been removed and Nukes now deal a flat amount of damage across the entire area of impact.

Note: This change was originally made in the Nexomania patch on May 22, but did not make it into that set of patch notes. We apologize for any confusion this caused in the meantime.

Developer Comment: The bonus damage dealt by Warheads had very little counterplay in late-game situations. Teams could hoard Warheads and kill any Structure—including the Core—very quickly. Although this center bonus damage presented players with interesting decision points, the mechanic’s problems outweighed its positives. We feel encouraging players to hit as many structures as possible is a similarly fun mechanic that is healthier for the game.

Heroes

Warrior

Yrel

Stats

Basic Attack damage increased from 140 to 155.

Abilities

Vindication (Q)

Charged up damage increased from 125 to 140.

CollectionNew Bundles and Skin Packs

The following new bundle will soon become available for a limited time:

Yrel Heroic Bundle – Available until June 25.

Heroes of Warcraft Bundle – Available until July 9.

New Announcers

Yrel Announcer

Drek'Thar Announcer

Vanndar Announcer

New Skins

The following new Skins will enter the Nexus during the week of June 12:

Yrel

Mad Jester Yrel

Mad Harlequin Yrel

Sparkle Jester Yrel

Dreamknight Yrel

Silver Hand Yrel

Falstad

Ironforge Falstad

Midnight Buccaneer Falstad

Greymane

Seafarer Greymane

Rehgar

Gladiator Rehgar

Varian

Copper Varian

Prince Varian

Zul’jin

Frostmane Zul’jin

The following new Skins will enter the Nexus during the week of June 19:

Auriel

Spirit Healer Auriel

Ethereal Spirit Healer Auriel

Vengeful Spirit Healer Auriel

Garrosh

High Warlord Garrosh

Chaos Warlord Garrosh

Frostwolf Warlord Garrosh

Junkrat

Sapper Junkrat

Darkspear Sapper Junkrat

Kezan Sapper Junkrat

Johanna

Warsong Johanna

Frostwolf Johanna

Mag’har Johanna

Muradin

Vanndar Muradin

Expedition Vanndar Muradin

Ironheart Vanndar Muradin

Rehgar

Drek’Thar Rehgar

Alterac Drek’Thar Rehgar

Draenor Drek’Thar Rehgar

Varian

Grand Marshal Varian

Stromgarde Marshal Varian

Kul Tiran Marshal Varian

Valeera

Nightslayer Valeera

7th Legion Nightslayer Valeera

Sunfury Nightslayer Valeera

New Mounts

The following new Mounts will enter the Nexus during the week of June 19:

Swift Stormpike Ram

Swift Dark Iron Ram

Swift Stormwind Ram

Raging War Wolf

Raging Timber Wolf

Raging Night Wolf

New Portraits and Sprays

We've once again teamed up with Carbot Animations to add even more HeroStorm-themed portraits and sprays in their signature art style!

Bug FixesGeneral

Fixed a number of typo and tooltip errors across several aspects of the game.

A.I.

Chromie: A.I. Chromie will no longer cast Temporal Loop on Vehicles, like the Dragon Knight or Garden Terror.

Art

Abathur: Removed an excess visual effect that could appear after casting Symbiote on a Monstrosity while using the Xenotech Abathur skin.

Abathur: Ultimate Evolution clones of Lil’ Ragnaros will now use the correct death model when the Ability expires or the clone is destroyed.

Try Mode: A.I. Heroes will now ignore Mercenary Camps. However, an allied Hero will still engage a Mercenary Camp if the player attacks it while that ally is following them.

Volskaya Foundry: Minions can no longer clip through the northern Wall near the Fort in the bottom lane.

Heroes, Abilities, and Talents

Artanis: Purifier Beam is now correctly interrupted if its target is a Hero with a post death effect, like Leoric or Uther, who is killed while the Ability is being cast.

Deckard: Stay Awhile and Listen’s book model no longer visually persists if the Ability is interrupted by a Taunt effect.

Deckard: Casting Horadric Cube while on a conveyor belt no longer causes the Ability’s area of effect to disjoint from its visual effects.

Deckard: Casting Scroll of Sealing while on a conveyor belt no longer causes the Ability’s area of effect to disjoint from its visual effects.

Deckard: Fixed an issue that could prevent a Healing Potion from being picked up if it was placed between an injured ally and Deckard when Deckard is at full Health.

Fenix: Offensive Cadence will no longer stop functioning if Fenix is killed when his next Basic Attack would have triggered the Talent’s bonus damage.

Li-Ming: Fixed an issue causing Disintegrate to deal one less damage tick than intended.

Ragnaros: When cast on Ragnaros in his normal form, Alarak’s Rite of Rak’shir and Alexstrasza’s Blessing of the Red will not persist after casting Molten Core. However, Ragnaros will regain those marks once Molten Core expires.

And still nothing being done about why people get toxic in the first place like forcing people to play out a lost game where multiple people afk out and or simply are to oblivious to their surroundings.

No problem forever playing with team chat muted for now on. Seeing they care more about how a game looks from the outside rather than the actual quality of games.

And still nothing being done about why people get toxic in the first place like forcing people to play out a lost game where multiple people afk out and or simply are to oblivious to their surroundings.

No problem forever playing with team chat muted for now on. Seeing they care more about how a game looks from the outside rather than the actual quality of games.

I have won so many matches that should've been a clear loss (and lost so many that should've been a clear win) that surrendering has no place in this game. If they gave that option most matches would be cut off early when things look a little grim.

I have won so many matches that should've been a clear loss (and lost so many that should've been a clear win) that surrendering has no place in this game. If they gave that option most matches would be cut off early when things look a little grim.

Couldn't care less for your anecdotal evidence and care more about the improved quality and standard practice of all other moba's.

You want me to accept that suddenly every game will be turned around, whilst also believe that people at the same time will decide to opt out when given the chance, ignoring that suddenly people who give up become major contributors. Do you even realize how much you just contradicted yourself?

Also apparently people tend to behave better when they are suddenly forced into a position they dislike when facing absolutely no consequences how they behave.

Couldn't care less for your anecdotal evidence and care more about the improved quality and standard practice of all other moba's.

You want me to accept that suddenly every game will be turned around, whilst also believe that people at the same time will decide to opt out when given the chance, ignoring that suddenly people who give up become major contributors. Do you even realize how much you just contradicted yourself?

Couldn't care less about standard practice of other MOBAs in regards to HotS, because the reason I play it is because it isn't like them.

Now, there is no contradiction; lot of people get whiny at first when things look a bit bad, these are the people who would surrender given the chance, but because they can't most of them actually keep playing still. Of course it doesn't lead to turn around in every game, I never said that and it would be ridiculous to suggest... but it happens fairly consistently, especially since that big patch which changed the pacing/structures etc.

Edit: Having many of my games called off early because of negative nellies would hardly be an improvement of quality.

I'm all for surrender. Sometimes you just want to get out of a match and as long as the rest of your team feels the same way, I see nothing wrong with letting a team end the match early. I think it should come with some slight penalties, such as reduced xp and gold or something, just to ensure it's really only utilized by most people when a match is an absolute shitshow stomp (like quick match giving you a completely bullshit enemy team lineup, or you have to play on an Overwatch map). It shouldn't be allowed in Rank play, obviously.

League of Legends is notorious for letting you freely surrender past the 20 minute mark, so 90% of fucking games turn into "We're winning you guys! Oh wait, it's 20 minutes, they surrendered...", so clearly free surrender with zero repercussion (I THINK they eventually put a penalty on surrenders?) is really not a good idea.

Well I've been silenced like ... 4 times for now ? yeah , the damage is already done Blizzard , for silencing players who play 24/7 (specially in HL , TL has it's own place if you're doing 5 man)

At least I'm switching to reporting for AFK instead of reporting for abusive (Every single player in every single game , just to have it fixed , They already did it on the abusive chat part but not the AFK part , better start doing it from now on) I mean this system is all about "Abuse or be abused" right ?

Well I've been silenced like ... 4 times for now ? yeah , the damage is already done Blizzard , for silencing players who play 24/7 (specially in HL , TL has it's own place if you're doing 5 man)

At least I'm switching to reporting for AFK instead of reporting for abusive (Every single player in every single game , just to have it fixed , They already did it on the abusive chat part but not the AFK part , better start doing it from now on) I mean this system is all about "Abuse or be abused" right ?

You'll give blizzard very interesting statistic:
1) person got reported and silenced numerous times
2) started reporting everyone for abusive chat
3) started reporting everyone for afk after abusive chat report got (arguably) fixed
Wonder what will happen to your account later with such a history of actions behind it.

You'll give blizzard very interesting statistic:
1) person got reported and silenced numerous times
2) started reporting everyone for abusive chat
3) started reporting everyone for afk after abusive chat report got (arguably) fixed
Wonder what will happen to your account later with such a history of actions behind it.

Most reporting systems in the business are supposed to either weigh reports based on the number, somebody reporting 200 people means the individual reports have virtually no impact vs those of somebody reporting 2 people within the same period of time. Or they limit the number of processed reports outright, to usually a number between 5 and 10 per day. Preventing dumb reporting sprees is usually high priority.

At least I'm switching to reporting for AFK instead of reporting for abusive (Every single player in every single game , just to have it fixed , They already did it on the abusive chat part but not the AFK part , better start doing it from now on) I mean this system is all about "Abuse or be abused" right ?

In World of Warcraft, with report systems, they had measures in place to lower the effectiveness of people who are zealous with their reporting. Are you under the impression that they won't have done the same for HotS?

In non gaming terms, ever heard the fable of the "Boy who Cried Wolf"?

Originally Posted by thevoicefromwithin

Most reporting systems in the business are supposed to either weigh reports based on the number, somebody reporting 200 people means the individual reports have virtually no impact vs those of somebody reporting 2 people within the same period of time. Or they limit the number of processed reports outright, to usually a number between 5 and 10 per day. Preventing dumb reporting sprees is usually high priority.

Couldn't care less for your anecdotal evidence and care more about the improved quality and standard practice of all other moba's.

You want me to accept that suddenly every game will be turned around, whilst also believe that people at the same time will decide to opt out when given the chance, ignoring that suddenly people who give up become major contributors. Do you even realize how much you just contradicted yourself?

Also apparently people tend to behave better when they are suddenly forced into a position they dislike when facing absolutely no consequences how they behave.

I think people who quit that easily shouldn't be playing these games. Why the hell hots would need a surrender option if games rarely last longer than 25 minutes? The only games with surrender option i know are smite and league of legends, both of these games have a timer on surrendering (20 minutes?) and they drag for 30-60 minutes due to their nature. What sane player would even consider surrendering a game mid match in hots when it can do a 180° turn after you get another talent?

What "standard practice of other moba's" exactly? Dota is the standard of all dota-like games and it doesn't have a surrender option, while having games with biggest length out of all of them. How surrendering will improve quality and reduce toxicity? While surrender could be used in hots to save you 10 fucking minutes of you playing a videogame at max, but more often than not it will result in either argue in chat about surrendering or not, people throwing tantrums about others not agreeing to surrender, and surrendering potentially winnable games. Great quality.

And also, if you don't like a game you always can leave it and take punishment.

You'll give blizzard very interesting statistic:
1) person got reported and silenced numerous times
2) started reporting everyone for abusive chat
3) started reporting everyone for afk after abusive chat report got (arguably) fixed
Wonder what will happen to your account later with such a history of actions behind it.

Don't worry , When their customer support is like shit giving bot responses aka automated responses you really shouldn't expect much from some players

- - - Updated - - -

Originally Posted by AeneasBK

In World of Warcraft, with report systems, they had measures in place to lower the effectiveness of people who are zealous with their reporting. Are you under the impression that they won't have done the same for HotS?

In non gaming terms, ever heard the fable of the "Boy who Cried Wolf"?

This ^ Sorry I've been awake too long

I got 3 bot responses when appealing for the silence , first time silence was really justified because I was INDEED an asshole , but the others ? not really . Maybe you should play 300 HL games non-stop (note : now that abusive chat reports don't count if you haven't typed at all) just type hello at the start of the draft or game and let's see how far you can go ? maybe you can go even further than me